LAI203: MLA 9th Citation Guidelines
Welcome
Welcome to the MLA 9th Guidelines Page.
Please refer to the formulas below for formatting a proper citation. Take note that this is an abbreviated guide.
For more information, navigate to the Purdue Online Writing Lab.
If you have any questions, please contact the librarian associated with your class section.
More than One Author in a Citation
Two Authors (applies to both books and articles)
Last Name, First Name, and First Name Last Name.
ex) Smith, John, and Carly Morrison.
Three or more Authors (applies to both books and articles)
Last Name, First Name, et al.
You will put et al. to indicate after the first author's last name to indicate and others.
ex) Pearson, Joshua, et al.
MLA 9th In Text Citations
If a page number is provided, follow the formats below:
In-Text Citation
(Jones 378).
In-Text Citation, Two Authors
List the two author's last names.
(Jones and Miller 378).
In-Text Citation, Three or More Authors
You will put et al. to indicate after the first author's last name to indicate and others.
(Jones et al. 378).
When no page number is provided, please follow the formats below:
In-Text Citation, No Page Number Provided
(Jones).
In-Text Citation, Two Authors, No Page Number Provided
List the two author's last names.
(Jones and Miller).
In-Text Citation, Three or More Authors, No Page Number Provided
You will put et al. to indicate after the first author's last name to indicate and others.
(Jones et al.).
If no author is provided, please follow the format below:
In-Text Citation, No Author. ("Use Title Instead").
If the source is titled "Clay Pot Snowman Tutorial", your in-text citation will be (“Clay Pot Snowman Tutorial”).
If the title is very long, shorten it by using only the first word. For example, the title “Allergies: Basic Info You Need to Know.” would be (“Allergies”).
Month Abbreviations
- Jan.
- Feb.
- Mar.
- Apr.
- May
- June
- July
- Aug.
- Sept.
- Oct.
- Nov.
- Dec.
For more information...
Please visit the following resources if you have any other questions regarding MLA 9th citations:
Websites
The Buffalo History Museum. The Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society, 2018,
https://www.buffalohistory.org/.
A Page on a Website with an Author:
Fong, Jonathan. "Clay Pot Snowman Tutorial." eHow, 7 Nov. 2017,
https://www.ehow.com/13661861/clay-pot-snowman-tutorial.
A Page on a Website without an Author:
"Allergies: Basic Info You Need to Know." WebMD, 12 Aug. 2016,
https://www.webmd.com/allergies/allergy basics.
a News or Magazine Article from a Database
Author’s Last name, First name. “Title of the Article.” Title of the Newspaper, Version (if applicable), Numbers (if applicable), Publication date, Page numbers (if available). Title of the Database, URL.
Dewey, Caitlin. "London Plans to Ban Fast-Food Outlets Near Schools." Washington Post,
1 Dec. 2017. Gale Academic Onefile,
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A516769322/AONE?u=sunybuff_main&sid=
bookmark-AONE&xid=78ccf12f.
an eBook from the Library
Last Name, First Name. Title of eBook. edition if any, e-book version, Publisher, Year of Publication. Database Name, URL.
Agosto, Denise. Information Literacy and Libraries in the Age of Fake News. e-book, Libraries Unlimited, 2018.
ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.gate.lib.buffalo.edu/lib/buffalo/
detail.action?docID=5518324.
Scholarly/Peer Reviewed Journal Article Citations
Journal Article from a Database with DOI available:
Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Name of Journal, vol., no., date, page numbers. Database Name, DOI.
Huggan, Graham. "Killers: Orcas and Their Followers." Public Culture,
vol. 29, no. 2, 3 Mar. 2010, pp. 287-309. Academic Search Complete,
https://doi.org/10.1215/08992363-3749069.
Journal Article from a Database with no DOI available - instead use a permalink if available:
Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Name of Journal, vol., no., date, page numbers. Database Name, URL.
Huggan, Graham. "Killers: Orcas and Their Followers." Public Culture,
vol. 29, no. 2, 3 Mar. 2010, pp. 287-309. Academic Search Complete,
https://gate.lib.buffalo.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/...
(Note: The link was shortened in this example. If you have a long permalink, you are allowed to use a URL shortener like bit.ly or shorturl.at.)
Journal Article from a Database with a seasonal designation after the volume and issue number:
Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Name of Journal, vol., no., season with date, page numbers. Database Name, URL.
Byman, Daniel. "The Social Media War in the Middle East." The Middle East Journal,
vol. 75, no. 3, autumn 2021, pp. 449-468. Ingenta Connect, https://doi.org/10.3751/75.3.2.
an Image from a Website
Last Name, First Name (or username). "Title of Image." Name of Website, date, URL (without http:// or https://).
With an actual name:
Ellis, David. "Memphis Zoo 09-03-2009 - Giant Panda 5." Flickr, 3 Sept. 2009, flic.kr/p/obtGfv.
With a username:
Ksbuehler. "Giant Panda." Flickr, 5 June 2010, flic.kr/p/8a7Hny.
Tweets
User's Twitter handle. "Text of the whole tweet; include any hashtags." Twitter, date, time, URL (with http:// or https://).
@GretaThunberg. "A reminder: the people in power don’t need conferences, treaties or agreements to start taking real climate action. They can start today. When enough people come together then change will come and we can achieve almost anything. So instead of looking for hope - start creating it.." Twitter, 15 Nov. 2021, 3:14 a.m., https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/status/1460159146720997377?s=20.
(Note: be sure to add a hanging indent in your Works Cited page)